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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Just buy this ok? Seriously. I have had several great beers this year, but this tops the charts. It's like everything caramely and beery and whiskey-ey got blended together into the most awesome beverage you can dream about.

It is relatively expensive compared to other beers ($20) but not expensive relate to the awesomeness that will explode in your mouth. SO AWESOME.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Hi Everyone - It's been quite a while since my last post, and for that, I'm so sorry! It's been a crazy couple of months where, quite unfortunately, I haven't been tasting many new delights. I have had a couple, but honestly I wasn't thinking about beer reviews because, well, I was enjoying them!

So here's highlights of what I've had and a quick review of each:

Knuckle Sandwich by Bootleggers.WOW! Let me just say that I had
this on tap, and I prefer it over the Pliny the Elder. PtE is
obviously the silver standard in IPA's next to the Younger, but for me I rather enjoyed the complexity of flavors I got in Knuckle Sandwich and would choose it over Pliny.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Considered to be one of the few actual spring beers, the Bock is a multi-talented and varied beer. Consisting of many different sub-styles, the Bock is a great choice for a cold winter evening or a moderately warm, early spring day. A dark lager that puts the malt in charge, the Bock has a rich history and an even richer taste.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

From the moment I first started drinking craft beer, I've been obsessed with IPA's, Imperial IPA's, and just hops in general. Yet, when I think about my drinking career concerning hoppy ales, I've only really stuck with beers using hops from the U.S., and more specifically, hops from the Pacific Northwest. I would like to think that this isn't necessarily due to my ignorance and more due to the fact that I just haven't really seen many breweries use hops other than the norm.

I've heard of Nelson Sauvin (rolls off the tongue nicely doesn't it?) hops before but I never thought to use them. Described by New Zealand Hops Limited as "breathtaking", the hop imparts a white wine "fruitiness" to the beer which helps give rise to it's name. When I found this beer in the store, I was very excited to try this type of hop for the first time. That's when I noticed the bottle cap; this beer was bottled in 2011. While many styles of beer benefit from extended aging, IPA's are not necessarily considered one of them because, I mean...fresh hops are the best hops. Yet, I was not perturbed and maintained my course to try the Nelson Sauvin Single Hop IPA by Mikkeller.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

With the two experimental beers out of the way, I've begun moving on into L'Eurelienne's more standard offerings. The four beers that make up the core of the L'Eurelienne selection are Blanche, a wit, Rousse, which appears to be an amber ale, Brune, a brown ale, and Blonde, which is, obviously, a blonde. I'll be starting off with the blanche, as it's the only beer L'Eurelienne offers that I haven't tasted yet. Unlike many wheat beers, it's brewed with only malts, hops, yeast, and water. No orange peel, no coriander. It's somewhat of a risk to brew wheats without any additives, given that wheat itself lends very little taste to a beer, but it's been done successfully in the past, and I'm interested to see what L'Eurelienne Blanche leans on for the bulk of its taste.

The beer itself is a very attractive cloudy yellow color with hints of red, in a way it looks like freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. While carbonation erupts from the bottom of the glass after pouring, the head is gone completely in an instant. I wasn't expecting that out of a wheat beer, but there's nothing there, not even a cap. It smells strongly of Belgian yeast, backed with bubblegum and banana, some spice, and a hint of lemon. Based on the smell I'd have to assume the taste will be strongly skewed towards yeast as well, which could be interesting in a wit.

The taste is lightly spiced up front with a quick sour wheat twang. Juicy yeast notes quickly take over, again with hints of bubblegum and banana, and remain the primary taste of the beer to the end. There's a lingering lemon taste that shows up after the sip is done, and it's a nice reminder of the tangy wheat. However, most of the taste is coming out of the yeast, the strain of which I've noticed is a unifying trait among the L'Eurelienne beers. It's clear that the head brewer is using a single strain to brew all of the beers, rather than changing the strain based on the beer style. The L'Eurelienne strain of yeast has a strong taste and smell, and it's exceptionally sweet and fruity. It actually works very well for this beer, and the yeast makes up for the lack of spice additions during the brewing process.

All things considered, the Blanche is an enjoyable and refreshing spring/summer beer. It's an interesting version of wit, considering there are no spices and it relies so heavily on the yeast for taste. It does a great job of showcasing the L'Eurelienne yeast strain. I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but I would drink it in season with a decent degree of frequency if it was available in my area. My only real qualm was that it had no head or cap at all, which I've never seen happen in a wheat beer. The Blanche would benefit greatly from a large, pillowy white head, but don't let the lack of a head prevent you from trying it if you can find a bottle for purchase.
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